Transcription
Today I have an important topic that has been occupying me for quite some time. Namely, what do we do when we fall? Fall in the sense of when we sin? Are we then lost? Does that mean an end to our togetherness with God? How should we deal with it?
I know two situations from myself. I know the sins that don't surprise me. And there I quickly go to Jesus and ask him for forgiveness. Ask him to cleanse me. And the matter is settled. We can also read in his Word that he is our helper and that he forgives our guilt if we only ask him for it. But then I also know the second situation. Sins that surprise me. Things that I thought I already had under my boot. And that's exactly where the problems start. If we think that we can get things under our foot, then we can be surprised by sin. And that is a problem with this second case of sin that surprises me.
So, for example, I assume that I have long since overcome envy, and then suddenly this great envy, this frustration, this bitterness, which rises up within me, stings me because I see something that I don't like at all, because someone else has it and not me, and because I can't deal with it or other things. Perhaps lies have crept in again, or anger, or whatever the respective problem is that one has to deal with, and then one is surprised. In this case, it is often a bit more difficult for me to go directly to God because I think, "Wow, that can't be true. Now I've stumbled again." I have a kind of bad conscience towards God, and I also simply have huge frustration towards myself. And then I often think, "Wow, what is all this for? I thought it was finally gone." I then also feel a certain anger towards God because I am disappointed, because I thought he had now gotten rid of this for me.
And if we are honest with each other, then we also think again and again, that's how it is for me, that I must receive something from it. So, if I am already a Christian, then God should at least give me something and he should at least help me deal with this stupid guilt. And that's exactly where we have a problem, when we become angry with God because we think that he must now immediately clear everything away and that we should and can now be the holiest people on earth because we are washed in his blood. Yes, we are holy because we are washed in his blood, but there is still our sinful flesh. The flesh that always wants to sin. Paul speaks of this in the letter to the Romans, in Romans 7 and in Romans 8. We actually don't want to sin, but it happens to us again and again.
And it is important that we don't get stuck in this frustration, firstly, frustration towards ourselves, that we have now fallen into a pit that we thought had long since been filled in, and on the other hand, harboring frustration towards God. Why, God, did you not prevent me from falling into this pit? I know from my own experience that if I allow this frustration for too long, I don't detach myself from God, but rather distance myself a little from him. That's like a child who has a bad conscience. It doesn't come open-heartedly and frankly to its parents and to its father, but one simply notices, "Oh, something is amiss, I need to put something right." And so it is with God too. If we notice, "Wow, I have this frustration about this guilt, about this sin that I have just committed," then I should first and foremost immediately run to God.
So from my practice, I can only say that if I am frustrated for too long and don't go to God because I have guilt on me and think that he cannot forgive me, or I am simply annoyed about it, then I start to compensate again. That means I watch far too much YouTube again, I watch far too much Netflix, I deal far too little with his Word, I have problems praying, and these are things that stand between me and God. Not because God doesn't like me, but because I have decided to be offended or I have decided that this guilt cannot be immediately cleared by God. Or because I think, "Wow, that was so extreme, how am I supposed to go back to my Father now?" And then I slide into this downward spiral. That's how I know it from my life. And that's exactly where we don't want to be.
What does the Bible say? If we look at the parable of the prodigal son, who squandered his inheritance with prostitution and all the things that are not good. If we see that, he came to his father and immediately received the signet ring. He immediately received sandals on his feet and was immediately welcomed by the father. What is the way out now? We absolutely must get a different understanding of our Father, of Jesus, of the Holy Spirit. He is not there pointing his finger all the time and thinking to himself: "Oh, he didn't make it again." "Oh, she didn't make it again." Instead, he is a loving Father. He gave his son Jesus for us, so that he alone might erase all guilt from us.
And when we have fallen, he says that he is gracious and just to forgive our guilt. But we must not be too hard on ourselves and not too frustrated with ourselves when we fall. The fall should not become a free fall. It is so important that precisely then we do not persist in this guilt because we are afraid of having sinned against God, but that we run directly to him. Because where does it lead us if we remain in this guilt? It is just a downward spiral. It is a spiral away from God, away from his grace, out of his arms and not towards him.
Guilt always leads away, and we should never have fear of God. We should have reverence for God, yes, but not fear of our Creator, not fear of our Father, but knowledge of his grace, knowledge of his love for us, for us. We may know that he loves us and we may understand that we may run to him immediately, because everything else is not an option. Everything else leads us directly into the clutches of Satan, directly into the traps he has set before our feet. And we will step into every single one because he first comes with lies.
"You are not good enough. I've always told you that. How are you supposed to have anything to say in God's kingdom anyway? You have no authority. You cannot speak with authority because you live in guilt and in sin." These are lies. Yes, we should not persist in sin and we should not live in sin. But when we have fallen, then we may get up, run to the Father and say, "Please forgive me in the name of Jesus, cleanse me." And we are immediately restored and we immediately have authority again and we may immediately speak into situations again and we may immediately pray again and it is not again a ladder that we have fallen down and then have to run up the steps again.
It's all a false idea of self-salvation, a false idea of any levels we can or must reach, any status we must achieve before God. No, it is quite clear that we are in a process of sanctification, a process in which God makes us like his Son, but we don't fall down the stairs when we fall. And if you are ashamed before God and yourself and don't know how to go back, then let us pray together, because he is there with open arms and awaits you. He expects you to come back to him and we should come to him with a courageous heart. With joy we should stand before him and with peace in our hearts, that Jesus has redeemed us, that is the gift he has given us.
So, let us pray, and Father, we come to you just as we are. You see our frustration about the things we cannot get under our feet, Lord. And you see our false idea of how we encounter you. And you see our false idea of guilt and how you deal with guilt. And sometimes we don't realize, Jesus, that you have taken everything, everything away for us. You died for every one of our debts and every one of our guilt, and we cannot surprise you. We cannot disappoint you because you never deceived yourself about us. You knew from the beginning who we are.
And Jesus, just like that, we come to you as sinners, as those who need your help. And Father, we ask you for forgiveness in the name of Jesus. I ask you and we ask you to now take away everything from us that is not from you, Lord. This great guilt that we have taken upon ourselves, Lord, this great guilt that stands between us, my Father, I ask you to take it away. Cleanse and sanctify us through your blood, Jesus, through the blood that you shed on the cross for me and for us, Lord. And I thank you, Lord, that I may look into your gracious eyes and that I may recognize your love and that I may also forgive myself, Lord.
And Spirit of God, I ask you to speak with us, to speak with me, to show us what you think about us, that your truth may now flow into our thoughts. And I speak to all lies, that they must now disappear in the name of Jesus. All lies that are now in the ears of my brothers and sisters, that they have fallen and can no longer get up because the guilt and sin are too great. It is a lie. Jesus died for us and he died for all our guilt. And there is nothing you can do to make the love of God leave you. And I thank you, Lord, that you are now taking away exactly these lies, Lord. And I thank you that you are now newly entering with your peace and with your joy into my brothers, into my sisters. I thank you, Jesus. Praise and honor and glory. I thank you that you restore your peace, your love. Amen.
And rejoice in the Lord. And you no longer have to meet God with a bowed head. No, you are completely restored. When we go before God and ask for forgiveness in the name of Jesus, then we are redeemed, immediately freed from everything we have done. Jesus says that he washes our feet because our heart is already pure. We are already saints, we have fallen. We have not fallen into disgrace, but we have fallen. And he lifts us up again. We have not fallen away, but we have sinned and ran to our Father. He washed our feet with the blood of Jesus and we are restored. Yes, it is that simple, for God is gracious and we cannot earn grace, but we can receive it anew every day, decide every day. Yes, I humble myself by accepting the grace that has been given to me by God, even though I have done nothing for it. That is the way we should go. Run into his arms, as quickly as possible. Amen.
I am very happy to hear testimonies from you, what you are currently going through, because it is so important that we encourage each other. I look forward to hearing from you. Bye.